1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exercise equipment and more particularly to an improved bicycle trainer.
2. The Prior Art
Many individuals ride bicycles for training and exercise. However, because of weather and other variables many individuals choose to ride a stationary bicycle trainer as an alternative to riding a bicycle.
Most bicycle trainers on the market have mounted frames and offer no movement of the bicycle other than the pedals and crank. This is a problem because these trainers do not permit a person to simulate sprinting and hill climbing by allowing side-to-side pivoting movement of the bicycle as experienced in real riding conditions.
Other bicycle trainers have tried to solve this problem by allowing the rider to ride his or her bicycle on a roller-type training device. These types of trainers are difficult to ride because there is no upright restoring force and the rider must maintain balance by positioning the bicycle under his or her body in method different from actual riding conditions. Roller type training devices are also dangerous because they do not secure the bicycle and there is a potential for falling.
A more recent approach to this problem is shown in Vasquez's U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,559 issued Sep. 2, 1997.Vasquez's bicycle trainer has a side-suspension system for maintaining the bicycle in a generally upright position on a roller type training device while still allowing some movement and tilting of the bicycle to simulate outdoor normal riding conditions. However, his device does not have an upright restoring force, but only a side-suspension system that permits a range of lateral movements stretching across the surface of the rollers.
Quent Augspurger and Charles H. Bartlett received U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,939 on Apr. 4, 1989 for their Cycle Training Device. Their device has a wheel support which includes opposed strut or shock absorbers which attach at one end to the rear wheel axle of the bicycle and which are pivotably secured at their opposite ends to the frame to permit limited angular tilting or freedom of motion of the bicycle. However, this device only allows limited tilting because the upright restoring force is only applied to the rear wheel axle of the bicycle. When a person simulates sprinting or hill climbing they rise from the seat and shift their weight forward onto the front handlebars and forks while pumping side to side. The Augspurger device does not offer an upright restoring force through the front forks and this causes frame twisting while only allowing limited angular tilting.
With this in mind the inventor set out to create a better bicycle trainer.